1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inspection device that carries out an inspection process for identifying the genuineness of an inspection target having a hologram thereon. Such an inspection target having a hologram is typically a banknote. However, the present invention may be applied to any item other than the banknote, such as cards made of paper or plastics, as long as it is provided with a hologram.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An example of a conventional bank-note inspection device is provided with a holding unit that holds a banknote, a light-emitting unit that is attached to the rear face of the holding unit and that irradiates the held banknote with light, and a switching unit that detects the held state of the banknote on the holding unit and allows the light-emitting unit to emit light based upon the result of this detection. This inspection device has an arrangement in which, when a banknote is held by the holding unit, the switching unit detects this and allows the light-emitting unit to automatically emit light, thereby allowing to identify the genuineness of the banknote by visually confirming whether or not a watermark is on the banknote through a sight through unit (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-141783).
In recent years, however, counterfeit banknotes with watermarks have been around, with the result that even when the counterfeit banknote is inspected by the above-mentioned conventional banknote inspection device, it tends to be erroneously identified as a real one, making it difficult to practically use this inspection device. New banknotes with holograms have come to be used for this reason. However, in order to confirm the hologram of the new banknotes, a plurality of images need to be confirmed so as to identify the genuineness of the banknote by viewing irregular portions of the hologram with the viewing angle being changed, and it is difficult to immediately direct the banknote in a plurality of predetermined angles so as to be identified, with the result that time-consuming tasks are required in identifying the genuineness of a banknote.
Moreover, in addition to the detection sensor for detecting the held state of the banknote, a switching unit that allows a light-emitting unit to emit light based upon the result of the detection from the detection sensor and the like are required, which could cause an increase in cost.